Forensic child and adolescent psychiatry : A review of the past 10 years.

Objective

To review important developments in child and adolescent forensic psychiatry from 1987 through 1996.

Method

Major changes in the law and developments in research and practice were surveyed in the areas of the legal regulation of psychiatry, family law (divorce and child abuse), consultation to juvenile and criminal courts, civil litigation, and the development of the subspecialty.

Results

There has been a large increase in research based on quantifiable descriptive data of forensic populations, although studies using comparison or control groups remain relatively rare.